05-15-2009, 12:46 PM
Selected comments are below
link to entire article: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-4-2...natto.html
Speaking of the bowl lineup, can you tell me where you are in those negotiations?
JM: I'll tell you what I've told other people. If I shared with everybody what our plans were and what our visions were and they didn't materialize exactly the way I wanted them to materialize, then you'd write that we failed. So I don't want to get into specifics, other than to say we've been working on this for quite a while and that we do have a plan and a vision for what we'd like to do.
What has been the general reception from the bowls toward the Big East this time around?
JM: The feeling today is so different than when we did this four years ago. At that time, we were just starting to rebuild the conference and we were bringing in new schools. It was difficult, quite honestly, back then to do anything. I'm not saying that it's easy right now because everything's a challenge in this economic climate, but I think that today's situation is much better than it was four years ago. I feel confident that we'll be able to do something in a positive way today versus where we were four years ago.
Expansion is the issue that never dies, and Joe Paterno's recent comments brought it up again. Can you tell us what safeguards are in place to make sure another raid does not happen?
JM: What we want to do is make the Big East conference a place people want to be. Like most conferences, we have a withdrawal penalty, and that's obviously one of the things we had to do after 2004 when we reconstituted the Big East. But our goal is to be proactive and create an environment with our postseason bowl opportunities, with the kinds of things we do like taking leadership on NCAA legislation, being on the forefront of the officiating arena and other things that glue people together. We want to make the Big East Conference a home so people don't have to worry if other people come.
You learn from experiences in life, and in 2003 and 2004 we learned that anything can happen. And you need to be prepared and create scenarios where you don't damage the rest of the membership if someone were to leave and go somewhere else. And we've done that. But that's not what I hope convinces people to become members of the Big East Conference or to stay members. I hope they stay because they appreciate the fact we're able to provide them with the positive and the affirmative instead of not wanting to deal with a penalty.
There does not seem to be a lot of bickering in the league or schools looking to leave.
JM: That's our perception, too. From a camaraderie standpoint ... my sense is around the league people are pleased with the end result of how this whole thing turned out. I don't know if we could have asked for anything more. I know what it was like four years ago. We had to corral situations and attitudes as well. We had to force people to think positively, and it's paid off in the long run.
link to entire article: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-4-2...natto.html
Speaking of the bowl lineup, can you tell me where you are in those negotiations?
JM: I'll tell you what I've told other people. If I shared with everybody what our plans were and what our visions were and they didn't materialize exactly the way I wanted them to materialize, then you'd write that we failed. So I don't want to get into specifics, other than to say we've been working on this for quite a while and that we do have a plan and a vision for what we'd like to do.
What has been the general reception from the bowls toward the Big East this time around?
JM: The feeling today is so different than when we did this four years ago. At that time, we were just starting to rebuild the conference and we were bringing in new schools. It was difficult, quite honestly, back then to do anything. I'm not saying that it's easy right now because everything's a challenge in this economic climate, but I think that today's situation is much better than it was four years ago. I feel confident that we'll be able to do something in a positive way today versus where we were four years ago.
Expansion is the issue that never dies, and Joe Paterno's recent comments brought it up again. Can you tell us what safeguards are in place to make sure another raid does not happen?
JM: What we want to do is make the Big East conference a place people want to be. Like most conferences, we have a withdrawal penalty, and that's obviously one of the things we had to do after 2004 when we reconstituted the Big East. But our goal is to be proactive and create an environment with our postseason bowl opportunities, with the kinds of things we do like taking leadership on NCAA legislation, being on the forefront of the officiating arena and other things that glue people together. We want to make the Big East Conference a home so people don't have to worry if other people come.
You learn from experiences in life, and in 2003 and 2004 we learned that anything can happen. And you need to be prepared and create scenarios where you don't damage the rest of the membership if someone were to leave and go somewhere else. And we've done that. But that's not what I hope convinces people to become members of the Big East Conference or to stay members. I hope they stay because they appreciate the fact we're able to provide them with the positive and the affirmative instead of not wanting to deal with a penalty.
There does not seem to be a lot of bickering in the league or schools looking to leave.
JM: That's our perception, too. From a camaraderie standpoint ... my sense is around the league people are pleased with the end result of how this whole thing turned out. I don't know if we could have asked for anything more. I know what it was like four years ago. We had to corral situations and attitudes as well. We had to force people to think positively, and it's paid off in the long run.
- You aren't from the SEC, Big 10, or Big 12. I'm not interested.
- Here is a tissue. Go cry in the corner. I want the Big 12.
